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The New Contemporary Art Magazine
The Internet has changed the art world immensely, and Giant Robot has been there to witness and evolve alongside it. Conceived as a humble, photocopied zine focused on Asian American arts and culture in 1994, Giant Robot now exists as an unclassifiable entity. It was published as a magazine for 16 years and later manifested in the physical realm as an art gallery and shop, as well as a website. To celebrate its 20 years, Giant Robot 2 in LA will debut "Giant Robot Presents: 20 Years Art x Mags," an extensive group show featuring many established and emerging talents. Among the line-up are Yoshitomo Nara, Takashi Murakami, Ryan McGinness, Geoff McFetridge, Yoskay Yamamoto, Jeff Soto, James Jean and a great number of other artists. "#GR20Years," as the show is nicknamed, opens March 15, 5 - 10 pm, and will be on view through April 2.
Both based in Berlin by way of Australia, Two One and Reka (see our recent studio visit here) are exhibiting together at StolenSpace Gallery in London in two concurrent solo shows: Reka's "Trip the Light" and Two One's "The Hunted Hunter's Head." Inspired by the graceful movements of dancers from a young age, Reka (whose mother was a ballerina) presents a series of paintings that pay homage to the fluid, abstract shapes the body can make. His Cubist-inspired paintings might have one imagining a toe-tapping soundtrack of jazz or even the swell of a symphony, but Reka tempers these allusions to older, more traditional art forms with gritty paint textures that evoke his graffiti roots.
With “A Volta,” Allouche Gallery looks at the evolution of the legendary b-boy and street artist Doze Green through paintings and drawings. In the show, viewers find an artist who influenced a generation and a transformative moment in his practice upon moving to Brazil. Green was most recently featured in Hi-Fructose's print magazine with Volume 35.Check out this great preview/video of artist Tessar Lo, who's showing with painter Moira Hahn and Bill Blair.
Psst! You can get a sneak peek of the show here!
New York-based artist Naoto Hattori, first featured in HF Vol. 7 and most recently, HF Vol. 35, creates dreamy paintings that are snap shots from his visionary world. It is there in the private recesses of his consciousness where his subjects thrive, he says. Opening July 18th, Hattori's next exhibition at Copro Gallery in Los Angeles titled "Genesis" delves even deeper into the artist's mind - where we dare to think about our creation and place in the universe. See more after the jump.Check out videos featuring several of the artists featured in Hi-Fructise vol.14: Van Arno, Lola, Gregory Euclide, and Hi-Fructose favorites Travis Louie (HF vol.5), Nathan Spoor (HF featured writer and artist), Audrey Kawasaki (HF vol.6), Camille Rose Garcia (HF vol.8), and many more.
On January 24th, Gen Art members celebrated the 2010 Grammys at the private Opening Exhibition and Party of artist portraits of Grammy-nominated artists, curated by artist Kris Lewis, with support from will.i.am.
As a follow up to last year's successful "Worlds on Fire" artist exhibition, this year will.i.am, Dipdive, and the Grammy Foundation will present "Who Killed the Music?" art collection that will help kick-off Grammy Week at The Target Terrace on January 24th-27th . The gallery will host 15 pieces from the hottest contemporary surrealist artists, which will present a new and powerful perspective on the state of music today.
A portion of the proceeds for all works sold will be donated to the Grammy Foundation and i.am Scholarship Foundation.
Video preview of the upcoming "Fresh Faces" show at Project Gallery this Saturday September 6th, featuring Nimit Malavia, Yuta Onoda, Dominique Fung and Martha Chan
Oil painter Vasilis Avramidis, first featured in Hi-Fructose Vol. 26, produces modern portraits of isolated landscapes, often depicting architecture in states of overgrowth. At the time of this interview, Avramidis confessed that he has settled in to his third studio location this year, a small studio in northern Greece. It is here that he has been putting the finishing touches on a new group of dramatically lit scenes based on memory and the overlooked. According to Avramidis, these paintings are as much about creating a familiar sense of place within a moment as they are about the absence of humans within the architecture. His latest works will be on view at The Contemporary London, located at Space W10 which opens on November 13th.
Whether on a wall or canvas, you can feel the influences of pop, graffiti culture, advertising, and both high- and low-brow art in James Reka’s work. The artist maintains both a mural and gallery practice in this sensibility, presenting the figurative in both vibrant and unexpected ways. Reka was last mentioned on HiFructose.com here, and he was featured in Hi-Fructose print publication in Vol. 17.
Hi-Fructose Vol. 27 cover artist Erik Jones paints alluring figures that he juxtaposes with dynamic, abstract strokes of bright colors. He seeks to find the right balance between his realistic style of painting figures with abstraction in his work. Jones recently made his European debut with his latest body of work, titled "In Colour" at Dorothy Circus Gallery in Rome. The title makes a references to the vibrant colors that surround and enhance the intensity of his female figures, likened to a hurricane. With these new works, Jones deepens his exploration of gesture and abstraction to an almost chaotic effect.
Longtime followers of Japanese artist Kazuki Takamatsu may already know his process: painstaking gouache layers that recreate scenes first imagined on 3-D computer software. Yet, in his latest set of striking paintings at the Corey Helford Gallery in Los Angeles, the otherworldy nature of Takamatsu's work is what again draws viewers into this haunted world of hologram-like characters. The solo show “Decoration Armament" opens this Saturday, and it features some of the HF Vol. 33 cover artist’s most ambitious and engrossing work yet.
“Gravities” is certainly an apt moniker for the works of Cinta Vidal, whose acrylic images on wood offer something to ingest at every angle. Take “Together Alone,” above, a collection of narratives that are at once harmonious and disparate. The artist has said she tries “to attach importance to every point of view, and to create more than only one outstanding scene in each painting.” Vidal was featured in Hi-Fructose Vol. 36, and she can be found on Instagram here.
Kate MccGwire’s anthropomorphic pieces exude a naturally sourced beauty as they writhe and loom in place. Much of her sculptural and installation work uses materials from the animal world, like pheasant and crow feathers, to create something new entirely. The British sculptor uses a dozen verbs to describe what she does: "I gather, collate, re-use, layer, peel, burn, reveal, locate, question, duplicate, play and photograph."
In a new collection of paintings and drawings, Kevin Cyr pays tribute to the working class via worn vehicles spotted and documented around New York City. “Labor Day” at Jonathan Levine Projects in New Jersey progresses the artist’s love affair with the concept of what vehicles say about the people who drive them. Cyr first appeared in the pages of this magazine in Hi-Fructose Vol. 10, and he’s part of the “Turn the Page: The First 10 Years of Hi-Fructose” exhibit, currently at Crocker Art Museum.
Shawn Huckins combines Internet culture and 18th- and 19th- century style portraits in his work. He offers a new collection of large acrylic paintings in "Athenaeum (I Can’t Pretend That This Is Poetry," an upcoming show at Seattle's Foster/White Gallery. The artist was featured in Hi-Fructose Vol. 32, and he was last featured on HiFructose.com here.
Vitaly Tsarenkov takes visual cues from 8-bit console games and early 3D animation yet crafts paintings on canvas, murals, and sculptures. The Russian artist transitioned from primarily graffiti work under the moniker SY to major gallery shows and crafting murals for festivals across the world. The artist's works are held in private collections in France, Morocco, Russia, and beyond. The below works are acrylic paintings.
Josh Keyes (HF Vol 12 cover artist) and Brin Levinson (covered here) both illustrate an affinity for animals in their paintings. Working in acrylic and oil respectively, their collective exhibition "Reclamation of Nowhere", which opens tomorrow at Antler Gallery in Portland, illustrates desolate environments from the animal's point of view. Josh Keyes chose to convey feelings of liberation and reclamation in his new series. "It is suggesting surrender, or letting go, or loosening of the psychological framework and preconceptions that can sometimes hold and restrain our imagination and natural impulses," he explains. Check out our preview after the jump.
After three years, Pat Perry has finished a series that represents another major shift for the painter. With the upcoming exhibition “National Lilypond Songs" at Urban Institute for Contemporary Arts in Michigan, he shows this new body of work that offers both reflective and piercing moments against quiet landscapes. Perry was featured in Hi-Fructose Vol. 35, in a feature that talks about the artist's journalist-like approach to his work.
The elaborate distortions created by Hong Kong-based sculptor Johnson Tsang continue to evolve, with a recent showing at Giant Year Gallery of works from his “Lucid Dream” series. Tsang was last mentioned on HiFructose.com here, and he was recently featured in Hi-Fructose Vol. 46.
“Sawdust provocateur" AJ Fosik crafts totem-like wooden sculptures influenced by taxidermy, rituals from varying cultures, and folk art. He's also one of three artists crafting installation projects at SCOPE Miami Beach's atrium (Dec. 4-9), marking Hi-Fructose's 14th year in publishing. Fosik was the cover artist for Hi-Fructose Vol. 18 and was last featured on HiFructose.com here. Below, he talks to us about what's ahead:
Adam Kiyoshi Fujita’s spraypainted murals appear as neon lights on walls across the world. Though a 25-year veteran of crafting work in public spaces, this specific style, evoking neon tube lighting evolved in response to the current presidential administration. In this past, his work has also responded to issues around police violence, gender issues, and other social topics.